This morning, we continue in our series, the gospel in film. Last week, we took a look at the classic movie, The Lion King, anticipating the coming of the remake in the theaters, but more importantly, the courage that God gives each of us to remember whose we are in Christ Jesus. Sons and daughters of Christ, called to live God’s Love. This week, we turn to film, Moana.
Why look to movies at all this summer? Our first reading today came from Paul’s second letter to Corinth, where the apostle is clearly enduring all for the sake of sharing the gospel, even imprisonment and beatings. At length, did Paul accommodate himself to Jews, Greeks, Romans, and others, across various statuses to share one common gospel. We think of Paul of spending all of his time on missionary journeys; in fact, Paul was bi-vocational and also supported himself with a tent-making workshop. The opportunities talking about Jesus with vendors and customers would have been abundant!
How many of you saw a movie within the last year? The Motion Picture Association reports 75% of the Americans went to the movies in the last year. (1) Movies offer us a common language and chance theological reflection on the human condition. (2) Or as Paul says, “I have become all things to all people, so that I may save some” from his first letter to Corinth, in the 9th chapter. Everything has the potential to reflect the glory of God.
Like Paul, we find ourselves on a missionary journey. However, this time, not to Corinth, but to the island of Motunui. Moana is our rising hero, who is next in line to be chief of her people. They were once a seafaring people with abundant fish and fruit. Resources and morale are teetering on the edge of possibility; Moana sets on a daring adventure with faith and persistence to secure the future of her people. Take a look at this clip. (show clip)
In the midst of challenge and difficulty, Moana leads with faith and persistence. Ironically, the first time that Moana sets sail; she returns with an injured ankle. Her sailing skills are none the stronger. It is through perseverance and dependence on learning from the gifts of others, that she learns to sail. Resilience and learning as she went was as important to Moana as what she was initially equipped with. Ultimately, her learning was not just for herself, but for her entire village.
How often do we think about our faith lives like that? Often as American Westerns, we have a tendency to think about our learnings strictly as our own. I might have figured something out, but I am not going to share it with out, and certainly not with the person whose name I can’t always remember three houses down. And if someone else told me, I wouldn’t believe them anyway!
It was the summer Olympics of 1992. It was the quarter finals of the 400-meter sprint. British athlete Derek Redmond was favored for gold after a lifetime of training. The starters gun fired, and the athletes burst out of the blocks. Halfway through the race, Redmond was leading, when disaster struck. His hamstring went and he collapsed on the track. The agony on his tear streaked face was both physical and mental.
Medical attendants ran to assist him. Derek waved them away. He came to race and he was going to finish. He got to his feet and started hobbling down the track. The crowd was mesmerized. Officials didn’t know what to do. And then an older man ran onto the track and he placed his arms around him. His father, Jim told him, “You don’t have to do this, son” As Derek insisted, “Then we’ll finish this race together” came the response from Derek’s father.
Arm in arm, with agony on Derek’s face, tears on his father’s, Derek and Jim continued down the track. Derek buried his face in his father’s shoulder. His father’s strong shoulders carried his son physically and emotionally. Jim waved away officials who tried to stop them.
Finally, accompanied by a now roaring crowd, standing on their feet and applauding, Derek Redmond crossed the line. This lesson became a worldwide lesson!
As Paul’s letter to Corinth is passed from group gathering at Corinth to those who have been gathering at Athens, his words are read over again and again. We have endured great hardships and calamities for the sake of the gospel and by the power of God, we are alive. Let there be no restriction in your affection – Open wide your heart! This witness of persistence was passed from outpost to outpost, until the life of Paul and the witness of Jesus Christ were integral to a life of faith.
How long does persistence take? Malcolm Gladwell, journalist and researcher in his book, Outliers, suggests persistence is measured in 10,000 hours. (3) The Beatles came to US in 1964 as a British invasion! This was no overnight success. What is interesting is how long they had already been together before they reached the US. In 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, started playing together. In 1960 the band played together in Hamburg, where they played for 106 nights, sometimes 5 hours or more. This continued through 1962. By 1964, they had played together, over 1200 times, having to learn stamina, discipline, and their own sound. Racking up thousands of hours playing together.
Persistence in our faith is no different. Whether we are building up the stamina to read the Bible every day for Disciple Bible study or actually praying every time you say you will when you say I will pray for you to someone, may the Holy Spirit bless you as you grow in faith. Whether you are cultivating listening for God’s voice within you or speaking up for justice for the oppressed, may the Holy Spirit inspire you as you develop in faith. Whether you are going to Mars and beyond with VBS this week or cultivating relationships to share your faith, may the Holy Spirit be in holy cahoots with boldness and courage!
God’s work persists in us. Jesus encourages the disciples of John and Pharisees and all of us who pushed for the conserving of traditions that we love, “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.’” (Matthew 9: 17) Even in the midst of our persistence, we find adaptability and learning. It is not practice makes perfect; personalization and persistence make permeance.
The biblical school NT Wright says it this way, “It should be clear from all this that if Paul had simply trotted out, parroted, every line of Jesus’ teaching – if he had repeated the parables, if he had tried to do again what Jesus did in announcing and inaugurating the kingdom he would not have been endorsing Jesus as an appropriate and loyal follower should…When Paul announced ‘the gospel’ to the Gentile world , therefore he was deliberately and consciously implementing the achievement of Jesus !” (4)
May you know the love of God that innately persistent and nurture faith the feeds you and others.
This is the gospel of our Lord Jesus, thanks be to God, Amen.
(1) https://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MPAA-THEME-Report-2018.pdf
(2) Jewett, Robert. Saint Paul at the Movies. 1993.
(3) Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. 2008, 35-68.
(4) Wright, N.T. What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of Christianity? 1997, 181-182.